Stepmotherland
by SicklyRaven
Summary: "They live every day with pride - for their village and for their way of life. I wonder how they do it." Set about one year before the beginning of EWLO. When the Empire sends an ambassador to Nashira, Gibari can't help getting involved.


**TITLE**: Stepmotherland  
**CHARACTERS**: Gibari, Lyude  
**GENRE**: Drama, I guess. I'm so bad at this stuff =S  
**SPOILERS**: for BK CD1- Nashira. Also some references to CD2 - Mintaka.  
**SUMMARY**: "They live every day with pride - for their village and for their way of life. I wonder how they do it." Set about one year before the beginning of EWLO. When the Empire sends an ambassador to Nashira, Gibari can't help getting involved.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**: This has been sitting in my drabbles for literal years - it's actually as old as all my other published BK fanfics, but for some reason I never took the time to review it and upload it until now. Anyway. I refuse to believe Gibari and Lyude never met before Kalas and Xelha came along, so I always knew that someday I'd go back and finish this. Looks like that day has finally come.

* * *

The sun had set a while earlier, allowing darkness to fall on the tired village of Nashira. All the fishermen had come back from their patient, solitary hunt between the rapids of the Celestial River and were now happily heading either home or to the Moondragon's Lyre, the only place in the village where you could still find some life so late in the evening.

It was Gibari's favorite time of day. Sure, he loved the long, lazy hours he spent fishing in the sun, always crowned by the satisfation of catching his prey, but nothing could compare with the evening's chats and rest. _And Mountain Apple wine_, he mentally added, smiling to himself in anticipation.

When he entered the tavern, however, he immediately noticed something was off. The patrons seemed to share an unusual agitation and they had gathered in little crowds, frantically discussing something in a wide range of tones that went from excited to worried to plain mad.

Gibari leaned on the counter and was welcomed by Anna, as always busy pouring everyone their drinks. "Good evening to you, Gibari" she smiled. "I'm glad to see you're not freaking out like everyone else."

"Yeah, what's the fuss all about? Don't tell me Reblys has finally caught something bigger than his own fleas!"

Anna burst into a little laugh and poured him a generous amount of wine. "I wish it was just that! No, apparently there's a captivating foreigner in town: an ambassador from the Empire arrived just a couple of hours ago."

"From the Empire? No way! I thought nowadays they only acknowledged our existence when it came to freeloading on our fish."

"Well, most people were fine with that. They don't want imperial soldiers meddling with their business."

"And you can't blame them, can you?" Gibari took a sip of his wine, thoughtful. "You know what... I think I'm going to say hi to this new fellow. Any idea where I could find them?"

"I heard he was going to take a look at the village and then head back to Sheliak, so he'll probably be at the dock soon. But please, Gibari... Don't do anything reckless. It's not worth it."

"When have I ever done anything reckless?" he asked innocently, a mischevious grin on his face. Anna's stern expression didn't falter. "Don't worry, Anna. If I could handle that huge crayfish last fall, I'll surely be able to handle this one."

oOo

Gibari got to the dock as the ambassador was about to leave... and he couldn't hide his disappointment: on the pier, next to a small yet well-equipped boat, wasn't standing the flashy old bureaucrat he had expected to see, but a young, _way too young_ kid... He could have been Gibari's son, dammit. Even his black uniform was a little too big for him, making him look all but intimidating. And his attitude wasn't different, at least from what Gibari could see from the distance: it looked like he was feeling uneasy even as he approached his own boat - and how blame him? There he was, foreigner in a foreign land, away from his loved ones and completely alone...

The fisherman shook his head. _This is not the time to be sympathetic, Gibari_, he chastised himself. _Besides, he's probably another ambitious rat who'd do sell his own mother to impress his dear Emperor._

Gibari reached the boy as he was getting into the boat. "Hold on a second, kid" he called, dropping a heavy hand on his shoulder. "I think you and I should have a little talk."

"Oh..." the young ambassador murmured in surprise, turning to look at him. His hair was scarlet, a brighter red than Anna's, and it was kept unusually long for a soldier's, so much so that it almost reached his shoulders. "I'm sorry" he added quickly. "I didn't expect anyone to come, and you startled me. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I believe you can" Gibari answered with a smirk. "But I don't feel like talking here, standing still like a damn scarecrow. Let's take a walk."

"As you wish." The young man stepped away from his boat and started following Gibari along the dock. Weird, he'd seemed so scared at first but now he was following him without a word. Maybe he wasn't such a wuss after all. "I believe we haven't met before" he said after a little while. "My name is Lyude. I'm the new Imperial Ambassador here in Diadem."

"I know" Gibari answered, and he energetically shook the hand Lyude was offering him. "And my name's Gibari. I'm the one who's going to kick your ass if you try messing up with anyone around here."

"I... beg your pardon?" Lyude asked, confused.

"You heard me, kid. I know your nation, and I'm sure whatever the Emperor is up to is nothing good. Now, I have no idea how much you know about his plans, but since you're here on his behalf I'm telling this to you: leave us alone, or you're gonna regret you didn't."

"I... There... There must be a mistake" Lyude managed to stammer. He seemed more surprised than frightened, Gibari noticed with something strangely close to admiration. "The Empire has no intention to harm Diadem. Actually, my presence here is a token of how much our foreign policy has changed, especially considering..."

"Oh, shut the hell up!" Gibari interrupted him. It creeped him out to hear a boy talk like that. "I bet you don't even believe what you're saying, do you?"

It was true, the whole time Lyude's voice had sounded fake and insecure. What struck Gibari, though, was the fact that he could swear he'd felt a sad note in it. _This kid knows he's lying, but he's sorry about it. And I'm guessing the first person he'd like to fool is himself._

Gibari had always been proud of his nation. Maybe it was due to his past days as a knight, maybe to the strong patriotism that was shared by the people of Diadem, but he felt he wouldn't want to be anything else than a man of the sky and a fisherman in his beautiful village. He loved his fellow citizens and would have given his own life for his king.

That's why he felt sorry for Lyude. The kid might have been still young, but he certainly wasn't stupid: he understood that there was something wrong with the Empire. He knew Emperor Geldoblame was a megalomaniac, dangerous liar, that his soldiers were nothing but a bunch of weak-minded monkeys... And yet the Empire was his homeland; he'd spent his entire life there, his friends and family most likely lived there too and were okay with any orders they got. What should he have been loyal to? He was just a kid but he was already so confused, torn between the love of his country and his thirst for justice.

_Was it me I'd go nuts, no doubt_, Gibari thought.

The whole time these thoughts had crossed his mind Lyude had been walking silently by his side along the dock, occasionally glancing at him. He wondered why the fisherman had stopped talking so suddenly - not that he minded not being threatened and yelled at, but he wished he knew what the older man was planning. _Maybe he's going to kill me and throw my corpse in the sea_, he considered with a little shiver, reaching for his gun to make sure that it was still in place. To be honest, though, the huge menacing man didn't scare him as much as he should have; Lyude kinda admired him, actually. After all he was putting himself at risk to protect his village. _So what am I supposed to do? Tell the general about him? But if he knew what the people of this village think about the Empire, would he let them live?_

"It doesn't matter what the Emperor is up to" he started pondering out loud, as if he had completely forgotten Gibari was there, listening to his every word. "I'm not here to harm these people. They're nothing lesser than us; actually, they may be better. They still have their integrity." _I don't want another Operation Sweep._

"Yeah... That's something you should tell your boss" Gibari stepped in, "but I agree. You Alfard people are the most arrogant jerks you could imagine. "

"This is not true!" Lyude reacted. "We're not all the same. And yes, most Mintakans think they're better than any other people, but it's not their fault."

The fisherman grinned. "Oh, interesting! And whose fault would it be then, huh?"

"I... They've been told so their entire life, and they ended up believing it" Lyude explained, "but I'm confident they would change their minds if they got to travel to the other nations and see how people live there."

"I'd rather they didn't. When Imperials travel to other nations they usually like them so much, you wake up the following day to find out a patrol of soldiers has put their tents under your window and their guns behind your back."

Lyude sighed. "I guess you're right. And Emperor Geldoblame isn't doing anything to make the situation better. If only someone less self-centered took..."

"Easy, kid" Gibari interrupted him, still grinning. "You say that in front of one of your comrades, next thing you know you'll be in a cell in the Imperial Fortress waiting for your neighbor to chop your head off." When the young ambassador blushed he added: "You know, you're not half bad. Different from the other Imperials.. I hope those freaks don't ever change you."

"They won't" Lyude said resolutely, forgetting for a moment to take his nation's side.

They kept walking silently for a while, both lost in their own thoughts, until Gibari asked: "Hey, didn't you have a boat to catch? You better hurry, you don't want your general or whatever to think you'd rather spend your time with us lesser beings, right?"

"I told you, I don't think you..." Lyude started, but then he realized Gibari was just kidding and he smiled. Weird, he felt closer to this fisherman he had known for about ten minutes than to any of his comrades. "Okay, you're right. I should really go."

"Good, 'cause I still have a drink to finish" Gibari said with a smirk. "Well, see you around, kid. Don't forget the 'I'll kick you ass' part."

"I won't, sir." And Lyude left.

Gibari looked thoughtfully at the tiny figure hurrying in the direction of his boat. He kinda wished he could take the kid away from that life, give him a home he could be proud of and a ruler who wouldn't try to put weird racist ideas in his head - the kid was right, the reason everyone from the Empire was a total douchebag was that they were brainwashed every day of their life, from the moment they were born until they took their last snooty breath. Lyude seemed to be doing okay for now, but how long until he morphed into yet another good little soldier who followed every order without question? Maybe Gibari could talk to Ladekhan, ask him to keep an eye on the kid at least as long as he was in Sheliak? But that would probably only make Lyude look suspicious to his Imperial buddies.

_Screw it_, he decided in the end. _After all, there are very good chances that I'll never have to talk to him again._


End file.
